Step 8: Finishing and staining

Step 9: Enjoy!

Bring the bed inside (carefully! pine is REALLY soft and even one tap can cause a nick in your brand new awesome bed). Bolt the headboard and nightsta...

I decided I wanted a cool modern bed. So I made one, and this is how. But a couple of notes before we begin.

1. I apologize that all of the pictures in this Instructable (sans the finished ones) were taken with a mediocre phone camera.
2. I am not a master carpenter and pretty much only know what I learned from my dad and watching Bob Vila and Norm from New Yankee Workshop. With that in mind, if I can do this, you can probably do this, and better than I can.
3. I was looking for a modern sunken platform bed that wasn't too crazy looking or crazily expensive. I couldn't find it, so I just figured I'd try it out and see if I could build my own. The cost of the materials were around $400, but that is a huge savings compared to buying a bed that looks like this.
4. Being able to say that you made it is also pretty cool. The ladies love it.
5. I'm not very good at explaining things, so if you have any questions, just ask!

Step 1: Acquire

The first step in this, or any project, is to decide what you need and then acquire those things that you decided you needed. I measured my mattress, made a rough game plan, and wrote out a list of the wood I thought I would need. I rethought this several times and made several trips to the Depot. The items used in the end for this project are as follows:

Tools
You don't need anything fancy for this project. In fact 90% of the cuts made for this bed were entirely using my sliding miter saw. But here is what I used:

Wood
As far as the frame goes (and this is for a queen size bed, so you may adjust the wood sizes to your own measurements), you will need:
- 10 to 20 1x3x6' boards (these are the wood slats that act as the boxspring, and you don't need nearly as many as I used, as you will see).
- 1 4x4x8 ft board (douglas fir, not the green outdoor treated ones)
- 6 2x4x8 ft boards (more if you make sweet mistakes like me)
- 1 2x2x8 ft board (I bought this by accident, but it really came in handy).

The trim, or cosmetically inclined part of the bed, required a few more pieces. This is where you get to decide what type of wood you will use. I used pine because it is the cheapest, and is quite easy to work with. The results would probably be better with a harder wood like rosewood, walnut, or oak. You may choose based on your own budget and assessment of your skills. I assess my skills at a medium to high risk of mucking up, requiring forking out more cash for high grade wood. This was a wise choice. In any case, you will need:

Then the headboard, you may do whatever you like. I wanted something simple and modern. I found at the lumber store some already pressed together pine sheets that were 24" wide by 96" long. This suited my needs perfectly, so that is the primary component in my headboard.

That should do it for the wood you need. Unless I'm forgetting something, in which case, I apologize.

Other Stuff
-Sandpaper in 80, 100, 150 or 180, and 220 grit. If you have an orbital get all these in discs but buy regular sheets of 220 as wel.
-1 quart Pre-stain (this stuff is for people like me who buy crappy soft woods, so the stain takes more evenly)
-1 quart Stain of your choice. I used all minwax stain products, for consistency, even though I don't really think it makes a difference.
-1 quart finishing polyurethane. I chose satin because I hate glossy things, but that is up to your own tastes. They also make products that are supposedly stain and polyurethane in one? I think I'd rather stay away from that.
-Wood putty. I prefer the squeeze bottle.
-small flexible putty knife for the above.
-Nails for the nailgun. 1.5" are a good size
-A crapload of wood screws. 2.5" and 1.5"
-Wood glue. I bought two good sized bottles, but one was enough. I bought the Gorilla Glue brand wood glue because it was on sale. And because Elmer's should stick to non-toxic elementary school glue.
-tack cloths.
-mineral spirits
-lots of cotton rags, like cut up t-shirts
-sponge brushes, i used 2 and 3" sizes
-2 Metal brackets for applying a center 2x4 to the frame
-Another 4 sweet metal brackets that slip over a 4x4 and have bracket for 2x4 coming off 2 ends. I don't know what they are called, but there are pictures of them later.
-4 5.5x3/8" hex bolts
-16 3/8" washers
-16 3/8" hex nuts

Now that you spent all your money (the total cost of this project for me was about 400 bucks), we can get on to the good stuff.

Built this exact bed today in a king size, thanks for the great instructions and material list. Total cost about $325 all in wood, stain, ect.... at my local home depot. If you need C clamps Harbor Freight has some nice ones really cheap.

I have just stumbled across this bed from something completely different I was looking at on youtube.(card making) I love it!!! Due to disability I won't be able to do it myself' but my husband can and will,

I'm so pleased that articles etc stay on the internet for such a long time.

Love this design! I've been looking to do a bed frame somewhere between platform and loft, and this looks perfect! (Though I think mine will be a bit taller. Haha.) Glad to finally find a frame with some design to it and not just something basic the bed will cover up. Nice instructable!

I love this bed...just what I am looking for (maybe with a "box" nightstand) and I loved your writing style. Hope you found a "lady" to share the other half of the bed...this "lady" is gonna try her hand at her own! Thanks so much for the good read! ;-)

Very nice...I know you say you need to be careful as pine is soft, but your excellent choice of stain for it will conceal all but the most heavy dings and with enough of them it would probably take on a beautiful distressed look.

I'm actually going to try to build this one......My wife and I would like a new bed and I am not please with some of the stuff i see in the furniture store...the cheap stuff is not worth it and the stuff i like is waaaayyyyy to expensive.... with three kids romping in the bed in the mornings I definitely need something sturdy...

I plan on building a bed similiar to this for my 15 yr old son in a few weeks. As a single mom, I find ways to save money anywhere I can and this is right up my alley. And I have most, if not, all the tools I need for this project. My oldest son and I just finished a pergola for my back patio....very cool! Thanks for the instructable and will let you know how it turns out!!

roughly how much did all of your supplies cost you? i'm thinking about building the bed, so I was just wonderign what it'd set me back. that would determien if i spend a weekend making it, or go to ikea and buy a similar bed.

I did call My Local Lowes store and they said they didn't know what type of bracket I was talking about. He tried to put me off on something that was 61cents and was NOTHING like what I was looking for. So today I had to get out and went by Lowes and they had lots of these parts....(the guy on the phone was just clueless) Anyway the part number is RTC42. The web site for Lowes doesn't show it under any number I put in, but they do have them. I took a photo and showed it to the clerk and he knew EXACTLY what I was talking about. Just wanted to add that note because they were getting hard to find and were right under my nose. Now I can't wait to get started. I think this thing LOOKS GREAT and only hope I did just as good of a job as you did. I haven't read all the instructions but I hope it can be moved fairly eaisly as most beds are. I think it will turn out OK.....Here Goes.......................

I just purchased a home and actually was looking to BUY this EXACT bed. Now I find it here. I just added a deck, (Pretty Large) onto my house and actually have almost enough lumber left over to build this. Only problem is I have looked and called and I can't find that "SWEET BRACKET". Do you know where you got it. I am in the south and Home D & Lowes doesn't carry it.

I gotta say, this is a GREAT job! And to buy something of this quality would cost a lot lot more than you have in it. And to say you built it yourself is always a plus. I'm just getting started in my woodworking and I am loving every minute of it....

So awesome! Right now I have a couple of cars to work on, and no woodworking tools, but as soon as I buy a house, I'll want to make one of these for sure. If the housing market collapses and I can hold onto my job, then I'll be making one of these next year!

I thought about adding a drawer, but all that ever ends up in those drawers with me is junk, anyway.

An alternate that I was considering was making the nightstands a part of the headboard, that way you could just extend out from the edge of the headboard and be nice and sturdy. But then I opted against it for whatever reason. It more than suits my needs, It will hold at least 20 lb worth of crap, and I've never had a lamp or alarm clock that weighed that!

Even if you did roll onto it, it would likely just damage your head on your way to the ground :)

I have two kids, seven and four, so everything I build has a "Can they sit on this" approach to it. I designed a Biplane style loft bed for my son, complete with propeler, but couldn't figure out how to attach the wings to where when they climbed on them, it would hold their weight. And I agree with the junk drawer theory, I was thinking more resale and stability. Nice stain job by the way.

Very cool! I like the floating nightstands. I've been playing with designs for platform beds and will incorporate the floating nightstands (with a modification so that they can be opened for storage). I hope you don't mind.

it's really not a pain at all. the mattress sets in just as far so you can sit on the bed with your feet on the ground and just barely touch the side rails. i did it more as a design aesthetic, and for my design it needed to be wide enough to cover the 4x4 posts underneath.

Right by the lumber there's a section of all kinds of roofing and various metal brackets for lumber. It should be there. Or you could just print a picture of mine and bring it in, someone ought to be able to help!

I may have to look into this. My bed frame broke some months back and I have my mattress on the floor. I still have the solid wood headboard but using this I could make a full be maybe even get rid of my box spring. Defendant easier then getting a metal extra long replacement.

This is awesome! I'm very impressed. I have an IKEA Malm that has the floating nightstands, but I don't really like the wood that it's made of. Obviously it's not solid. I'll definitely be using this instructable in the near future. Thanks for the time you put into creating it.

Nice job!!! Between your instructable and the one your linked back to I'll be working on something similar to this. Gave me some great ideas and short cuts to make it now.

I've got, and still using, a bed frame built years ago that is a very minimal and easy to break down bed. It only has 6 1"x10"x5' and 2 1"x10"x6' each bolted down with bolts and wing nuts. Legs are 6 simple pipe legs. Moving around a lot, back then, I needed a bed that could break down and transport easy, so built that bed years ago. It's been a very rock solid bed frame over the years but lately I've been wanting a more substantial bed frame. These builds will allow me to recycle my old bed into a much nicer bed.

Will work on also creating my first instructable with help from your build!!